Researchers are exploring the behaviours of owl wings to develop bio-inspired ideas for quieter aircraft, and Cathay Pacific has entered a MOU with Airbus to purchase 32 A321neo aircraft. Aerospace-technology.com wraps up key headlines from August 2017.

Bombardier revealed its intention to continue carrying out the ongoing flight test programme of its Global 7000 aircraft despite an ‘in-flight flame out’ that occurred during a trial earlier this month.

During the incident, the right engine of the flight-test vehicle 2 (FTV2) suffered an in-flight flame out after experiencing high vibration levels and high inter-turbine temperature (ITT) readings.

The occurrence was revealed in a report published by the National Transportation Safety Board of Canada, reported American Machinist.

A team of researchers at Purdue University in the US developed a new micro-propulsion system that uses ultra-purified water as a propellant.

The new Film-Evaporation MEMS Tunable Array (FEMTA) thruster system features small nozzles that release precise bursts of water vapour to manoeuvre miniature satellites known as CubeSats.

The thruster uses 10mm-diameter capillaries to harness the microscopic properties of water. Since the capillaries are small in size, the surface tension of the fluid keeps them from flowing out, even in the vacuum of space.

Lockheed Martin is to build a new $350m facility to produce next-generation satellites at its Waterton Canyon campus near Denver, Colorado, US.

The 266,000ft² Gateway Centre facility will include an improved high bay clean room that can simultaneously form a range of micro and macro satellites.

It will also feature a thermal vacuum chamber to simulate the harsh environment of space, an anechoic chamber for highly perceptive testing of sensors and communications systems, as well as an advanced test operations and analysis centre.